Lions' Williams not afraid to think big

STATE COLLEGE — Derrick Williams has two goals this season, his third as a wide receiver at Penn State: make a whole mess of plays and win the national championship by any means necessary.

ANDREW KROECKEL

STATE COLLEGE — Derrick Williams has two goals this season, his third as a wide receiver at Penn State: make a whole mess of plays and win the national championship by any means necessary.

"Our mentality right now is to win every game at all costs. We're going to win," the true junior said. "That's on everybody's mind. We're trying to go to the national championship, and that should be in everybody's mind right now."

It gets no more complicated than that for Williams, an electrifying playmaker from Washington, D.C. Now one of the veteran leaders for the Nittany Lions, Williams is hoping to recapture the magic of the 2005 season, a ride that ended with Penn State knocking off Florida State in the Orange Bowl to finish 11-1.

One of the leaders of that team was quarterback Michael Robinson, who is now a running back with the San Francisco 49ers. Robinson, who Williams said was like a big brother to him, was a natural leader, pulling his teammates along and together with his play on the field.

The unity the 2005 team felt was a driving force behind its success, and Williams feels this year's team is pulling together in the same way.

"Everybody was just having fun and playing with their brothers," Williams said.

Having talent on the field doesn't hurt, either, and the Nittany Lions certainly have that in Williams.

Playing a variety of positions, including split end, flanker and slot back, Williams was a key component of Penn State's success in 2005, at least until he broke arm returning a kick against Michigan. His first career touchdown was a game-winning, 36-yard catch with 51 seconds remaining in a comeback victory over Northwestern, and he compiled 668 all-purpose yards in just seven games.

He returned last year to catch 40 passes for 440 yards and a touchdown while running the ball 36 times for 145 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't exactly the kind of breakout year many were expecting from the former high school national player of the year.

"I think Derrick has had his moments," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "Derrick has been a little inconsistent at catching the ball at times and things like that. I think he's tried too hard. He's put an awful lot of pressure on himself — there isn't a guy that works harder than Derrick Williams does."

At least no one on Penn State's roster. Williams, who wore a weighted vest over the summer to simulate wearing pads, works himself to the point of getting sick, running routes, running plays or just flat-out running.

"Almost killing myself in every workout, but that's what it's going to take," Williams said. "Not trying just to talk about things, showing people this is what you got to do."

Not that there isn't talk. Quarterback Anthony Morelli, for example, professed that if the Nittany Lions were backed up on their 1-yard line with one second remaining and needing a touchdown, they'd find a way to score.

While perhaps a bit of hyperbole, Morelli's comment was less of a boast than a proclamation in the players' belief in one another this season.

"That's just the type of guy that Anthony is," Williams said. "Anthony is the type of guy that if you tell him he can't do anything, he'll go out there and prove that he can do it. He's a great guy, and he's going to do everything he can to help us win the national championship."